GEORGIA TECH: Georgia Tech opened up its QB competition this spring, but Tevin Washington still emerged as the starter. Last season, Washington threw for 1,652 yards and ran for 987 yards out of the Yellow Jackets' triple-option offense. The team is returning four starters on the offensive line, so Washington should have all day to make decisions when he's in the pocket. They lost all of their wide receivers, but they have two promising underclassmen in 6-foot-4 Jeff Greene and 6-foot-5 Darren Waller. An issue for this Georgia Tech team is its weak defensive line. It's a unit that has trouble stuffing the run (94th in nation in TFL) and getting after the quarterback (77th in sacks), so somebody will need to step up. That somebody could be 6'7 senior DT T.J. Barnes, who reportedly lost more than 25 pounds since last season to get down to about 340.

CLEMSON: Fresh off giving up 70 points to West Virginia in the Orange Bowl, Clemson hired a new defensive coordinator in Oklahoma's Brent Venables. Venables is looking to simplify things for a defense that doesn't have to do anything spectacular in order for the Tigers to win the weak ACC. Clemson is getting back the firepower it had on offense this year with QB Tajh Boyd (3,828 pass yds, 33 TD, 12 INT), RB Andre Ellington (1,178 rush yds) and WR Sammy Watkins (1,219 rec yds, 13 total TD). If Venables can get through to this defense (36.6 PPG allowed in final 8 games) then look for the Tigers to continue the success they enjoyed early last year when they started off 8-0.

Maybe not early on, but the 15th-ranked Tigers took control of things right before halftime in 45-31 victory over the Eagles. Not that anyone would blame Morris for his concerns, especially given the team's recent history in bouncing back from big defeats.

Clemson (4-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) was still reeling from its lone loss at No. 3 Florida State on Sept. 22 as it gave up a two-touchdown lead - and 667 yards of Seminole offense - to fall 49-37

Then late Thursday, the team found out it would travel to Boston without star receiver Sammy Watkins, diagnosed with an abdominal virus that struck him in the middle of the week. The All-American returned to practice Monday and Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said Watkins was expected to Georgia Tech (2-3, 1-2) at Death Valley on Saturday.

Along with Watkins' absence last week, the Tigers were also without backup Martavis Bryant for two games because of a groin injury. None of it matter for Clemson against Boston College.

Quarterback Tajh Boyd threw for three touchdowns and rushed for another while receiver DeAndre Hopkins had 11 catches for a school record 197 yards. The Tigers moved in front for good right before the half on Boyd's 4-yard scoring pass to Brandon Ford. Two third-quarter touchdowns put the Tigers ahead 38-21 and the Eagles couldn't recover.

Swinney was proud of his players for concentrating on the game, not their struggles. The offense, he said, excelled again without Watkins while the young defense grew up after Boston College took a 21-17 lead in the second quarter.

"Overall, we improved," Swinney said. "We found a way to win. It's just a great job by the whole team in getting it done."

Receiver Jaron Brown said the players didn't worry about the things they could not control and called on the depth they had developed during the offseason. "We just wanted to make the necessary adjustments and have other guys step in," Brown said.

It's happened before this season. Watkins missed the team's first two contests, serving a team suspension for an offseason drug arrest. Hopkins set a school record in the team's opening victory over Auburn with 13 receptions, then tied a record a week later with three TD catches against Ball State.

Morris has spoken with Watkins and said the star sophomore feels better. Swinney said Watkins illness was from dehydration, some trauma to his kidney from the Florida State game and a virus. Watkins was cleared by doctors Monday to return to practice.

Watkins on the field Saturday will certainly improve the Tigers chances against a Georgia Tech team that's given Clemson fits the past few seasons.

The Yellow Jackets are 4-1 over the Tigers since Swinney took over as coach midway through the 2008 season, including beating Clemson in the 2009 ACC championship game.

Georgia Tech ended the Tigers 8-0 start a year ago, a defeat Clemson struggled to get past as it ended the regular season on a 1-3 slide. There were plenty of fans who openly wondered if the Florida State loss two weeks ago would lead to a similar free fall.

Clemson offensive lineman Brandon Thomas said this year's group showed things would be different this season.

"We put last year behind us," he said. "This is a new team."

Georgia Tech has its own issues to handle before Saturday. The usual ACC Coastal Division contenders have lost two straight, including last week's home embarrassment, 49-28, to Middle Tennessee of the Sun Belt Conference.

"We've got a big challenge in front of us," Yellow Jackets coach Paul Johnson said. "Clemson has a good football team and we have to come out and play a lot harder than we did today, or it could be ugly."

Morris said Clemson's showing last week confirmed what he'd thought about his offense - it's resilient and eager for success. "There wasn't ever any panic" at again playing without Watkins. The Tigers are second in the ACC in total offense and put up more than 500 yards last week for the third time this season, one off the school record.

Morris recalled how last week all he'd heard was Clemson's lack of staying power and how it couldn't handle adversity. His message to his players, he said, was simple and direct.